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Monday, October 24, 2011

Sights and Sounds: The Grateful Dead, Color Theory, James McCartney

In today's post, I did a bit deeper to uncover some hidden gems spanning several genres that shouldn't get by unnoticed.

"The Grateful Dead Movie" Arrives On Blu-Ray on Nov. 1, 2011

Long out of print, but now restored to its splendid glory – The Grateful Dead Movie arrives in stores nationwide November 1 (Shout! Factory) on Blu-ray, much to the delight of fans worldwide.

Co-directed by Jerry Garcia, The Grateful Dead Movie was originally released in 1977 and captures performances from five October 1974 shows at San Francisco ’s Winterland Ballroom. The deluxe 2-disc set contains the feature film on Blu-ray and a DVD loaded with an extensive slate of bonus features.

Disc 1 features the film in its entirety transferred from the original 35mm film negative in High Definition and presented in 1.78:1 widescreen aspect ratio. The performances include Dead classics such as “Truckin’,” “Sugar Magnolia,” and “Casey Jones.”

Disc 2 is a DVD containing more than 95 minutes of bonus concert footage, including “Uncle John’s Band,” “Sugaree,” “The Other One‚” and more as well as extensive bonus features. Additionally, viewers can choose which sound mix they want, including a 5.1 DTS HD Master Audio presentation of the original theatrical audio mix, a DTS 5.1 audio mix, mixed from the master multitrack tapes, or the PCM 2.0 audio mix, all from the master multitrack tapes.

The Complete Color Theory features 217 tracks on 15 albums (3 are double albums), completely remastered from the original source materials in both mp3 and lossless FLAC formats, on a custom laser-engraved 8 GB USB key. Expect a few surprises as well, like photos, rough manuscripts and lyric sketches.

Brian Hazard, whose Color Theory moniker is well known among fans around the globe, asked "how much I should sell them for, and $99 was the clear consensus (I’ll cover the shipping). That seems reasonable to me, but I don’t think it’s fair that someone who already bought most of the albums has to pay the same as someone who hasn’t bought any. So…

"During the pre-order period, you’ll receive a $5 credit off the $99 price for each of the 10 official Color Theory releases you’ve already paid at least $5 for. That means many of you will get it for half off: $49.

On November 1, 2011, it will be set in stone at $99, regardless of your purchase history.

Pre-order now to receive one of the first 50, which will ship on November 1. The rest should ship around the middle of the month."

James McCartney's The Complete EP Collection will be released on November 22 exclusively as a two-cd set via Engine Company Records. The CDs gather McCartney's two recent, critically acclaimed digital EPs 'Available Light' and 'Close at Hand,' with five previously unreleased bonus tracks. All told, the set features 14 McCartney (seen on the right in a photo taken by Mary McCartney) originals, plus a deeply felt cover of Neil Young's "Old Man," and a rousing version of Carl Perkins' "Your True Love."

The Complete EP Collection is, by turns, whimsical and reflective, sharp-witted and affectionate. Full of smart, engaging pop songwriting—including the intimate "Wings of a Lightest Weight," an expression of a son's feelings of love for his mother—the collection was produced by David Kahne (The Strokes, Regina Spektor) and James' father Paul McCartney. The set was recorded at Abbey Road and Hog Hill Mill Studios in England, as well as SeeSquared and Avatar Studios in New York. James plays many of the instruments himself, including guitar, bass, piano and mandolin.